Remnant
by Eneress
Summary: In the months following the Daxamite invasion, Lena and her staff at L-Corp have been busy turning a Daxamite ship brought down in the conflict into a hotel capable of space travel. With the work complete, Lena invites those who helped save the city on the ship's maiden voyage. But will she, Kara, Alex and Maggie have an easy ride? Features Alex/Maggie and Supercorp.
1. Chapter 1

Kara turned her head to one side. Was Lena nervous?

Her friend stood behind the podium, knuckles white as she gripped the sides of it. The crowd of press officials and members of the public murmured and pointed as Lena tried and failed to start her speech, her mouth left hanging open with every failed attempt.

Kata wasn't sure of the reasoning behind holding the conference outside one of the nicest hotels in the city instead of her usual spot near L-Corp. She had refused to discuss her plans for today with anyone—including Kara.

For once, Lena had decided to let her hair down. Soft waves fell over one cheek and trailed over the front of her green dress. Kara smiled; it was she who suggested the style change. New Lena. New L-Corp endeavours. Only fitting a new hairstyle would go along with all the change.

'Six months ago,' Lena began, 'this city was brought into a state of near-ruin by invaders. They threatened our lives, our homes. But, of course, I don't need to tell any of you that. Just like I don't need to tell you Supergirl saved us all.'

A small cheer rose from a group in the audience, and Lena gave them a grateful smile. Kara was expecting that. Lena had made sure to invite, Alex, Maggie and several members of their respective colleagues as a thank you for their part saving National City.

'The Daxamites sought to end our way of life, but, ironically enough, their downfall could enhance it. The height of the conflict brought several of their ships down, including one just outside the city limits. In the days that followed the attack, L-Corp was given a unique opportunity to study the ship, and with the help of the FBI we did just that. From this collaboration, Project Rejuvenate was born.'

Lena paused and made a point of sweeping her gaze over every member of the audience. Kara pushed herself into flight and moved over to a closer rooftop. She wanted to see the audience's reaction as much as Lena appeared to.

'My team, along with the help of several government bodies, were able to strip the ship down to its barest essentials and rebuild it with another purpose in mind: this city. It's future.'

An outbreak of muttering. Kara focused her hearing on the loudest individuals.

'What is she on about?'

'She can't have… no way…'

Lena cleared her throat, and the muttering ceased. She relaxed her grip on the podium and straightened her back.

'L-Corp is proud to present a world first in your city: a space hotel.'

Questions erupted from the press in the audience, and Lena scanned each of their faces and frowned before she continued to speak. Kara knew she was looking for Kara Danvers' eyes, her questions. The one place Lena could always find a friendly query amongst all the distrust and suspicion. Guilt clawed at Kara's thoughts.

'The inside of the ship has been remodelled to fit a far more refined taste, and every inch of the craft is state of the art. It will be able to take up to fifty individuals into space for trips intended to last three weeks.'

'Is that safe? What about hostile aliens?' A member of the audience yelled.

'Along with an impressive weapons arsenal,' Lena said, 'the Daxamite ships boasted terrific defensive capabilities. It's a wonder the ship came down at all. My team have learned all they can about their workings and bolstered them by another 50%. You have my assurance that everyone on board will be as safe as they possibly can be.'

'Your word?' Another yelled. 'Why should anyone here trust a Luthor?'

Lena didn't waver outwardly, but there was a brief pause. Only a friend of Lena's could have seen how much the question rattled her.

'Oh, you shouldn't. My brother is a criminal, my mother also. The construction of this ship was not my responsibility. Don't trust in me: trust in the FBI, who have vetted every letter of Project Rejuvenate. Or the president herself, who made a point of personally inspecting the progress of the project on a monthly basis. Trust in the capabilities of L-Corp employees to do their jobs, and of government officials to know theirs as well.'

The crowd grew rowdier, and it was now Kara saw the beginnings of Lena's resolve begin to give out. Her eyebrow twitched as she flicked from one person's face to another. In the time it took her to start answering one question another ten had been posed.

Kara shook her head and threw herself off of the building. She maintained a steep dive until the final second, where she levelled off, soared over the crowd's heads and came to stand beside her friend. Lena's relief was tangible.

The crowd was split between hollering yet more questions and cheering the latest arrival.

'And now,' Lena shouted, but with less confidence than she'd had a moment ago, 'it is my pleasure to announce two things. One: in the spirit of rejuvenation the ship shall be named Dawn—for a new one just broke over this city. Two: as a way of saying thanks to the hard-working members of our police force, the mayor has chosen several outstanding officers to accompany myself, the press and Supergirl on the ship's Maiden voyage!'

Kara watched as another wave of questions landed, and caught Maggie's eye in the crowd. She glanced between the press officials and Kara several times. Kara took the hint.

Kara pushed upwards and hovered above the crowd by a couple of metres. This was enough to quieten the questioning and got some eyes off of Lena.

'This is a great thing,' Kara said. 'truly. Miss Luthor's contribution to the future of this city will make a sizeable difference to the local economy, and I'm glad to accompany her.'

'What will we do while you're gone?' Someone shouted, 'what if there's another attack?'

'My cousin will be here,' Kara replied, 'as will the local authorities.'

'Will you still have powers in the ship? Do you not gain your powers from the sun?'

Kara nodded. 'As we are staying within the solar system, I will still be near enough to the sun to utilize its radiation.'

'What about—?'

'Thank you all for coming,' Lena said, nodding at the crowd and then Kara, 'and please hold all further questions until the end of the event.'

Kara watched as Lena took a step back off of the stand and headed towards the hotel. She then flew upwards and away, but kept an ear trained on the next speaker for as long as she could.

There was little time for her to change back into Kara Danvers and get into the hotel without being seen. Her human clothes were hidden in a duffel bag just outside the VIP exit. She hurried into the purple cardigan and light grey pencil skirt combo and shoved her glasses back on before hurrying inside. She even managed to time bumping into Lena in the foyer.

'Where have you _been_?' Lena hissed, batting her arm, 'I had to face down fifty different questions at once, and I couldn't even look to you for support!'

'I am so sorry, traffic was terrible, and—' Kara examined Lena's face, 'hey, are you okay? You look pale.'

Lena swept her hair away from her eyes and shook her head.

'This one guy ripped into me about not trusting my surname.'

Kara rubbed her arm. 'That guy is stupid. Everyone knows you're not your mum or brother. You're you. And you're awesome.'

Lena smiled, but the happiness didn't quite reach her eyes.

'I'm so glad you're coming up with me,' she said, 'not sure I could do it alone.'

Kara shook her head. 'You can do anything.'

She snorted, and they linked arms. Lena led them over to where the hotel appeared have laid out a free buffet. Several police officers and Lena's personal security team were already sampling it.

'Oh my god,' Kara said, 'is this the place with those croissants you raved about?'

'Yep. I figured it was time you got to try one—or three, knowing you.'

'You didn't choose the venue for this thing for that, did you?'

Lena laughed. 'Of course not. It's a happy coincidence.'

Kara narrowed her eyes.

'Come on. You really think I'd—okay, fine. The thought did cross my mind,' Lena sighed as Kara laughed, and then added, 'but in my defence, this place has the best pillows, and I needed somewhere comfortable to rest my head before that hell.'

'You did great.'

Lena stopped and turned to look at her. Kara realised her mistake the moment it had slipped out of her mouth.

'How would you know?'

'I was watching the livestream on my phone,' Kara said, 'I was with you in spirit. So, am I forgiven now? '

Lena rolled her eyes, but smiled. 'Yes. Yes, you're forgiven. Now go and stuff your face before all the croissants disappear.'

Kara glanced over her shoulder.

'There are loads left, and I want to talk to you some more.'

'Yeah?'

'Uh-huh. About why you didn't take my advice and try this hairstyle sooner. I mean, have you seen your face today? You look amazing—not that you don't always, I-I mean, you look even more, with the hair, and the makeup, and… I'm going to go eat croissants now.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Three days after the event, Lena paced her office. L-Corp was a big building, she knew that, but why did it always take her assistant ten minutes longer than she specified to bring food?

On her desk, her phone vibrated. She glanced at the caller ID, shook her head and went back to pacing. More journalists. Apparently, the interview she'd given Kara did little to sate the appetites of the public. But as irritated as she was, Lena understood. She'd anticipated this.

This was the inevitable outcome of her decision to keep Project Rejuvenate from the public eye until it was complete. Although, looking back, she was certain the president had wanted it that way as well. Though it was difficult to tell with her. Her smiles were gracious enough, but even she looked wary of the whole endeavour, or perhaps Lena's name.

 _Why would anyone trust a Luthor?_

Kara's interview was kind. She was a true friend. Of course Lena knew why the press were still circling like vultures: Kara had glossed over the gritty questions about her family's past and her motivations for this project. She'd also overlooked the fact Lena had more to do with the construction of the ship than she'd suggested at the conference.

Kara had stood with her at the warehouse where the ship was built several times. She'd always been so uncomfortable there, so quiet and unlike herself. While the ship still looked like it belonged to the Daxamites, she hadn't looked at it once. Lena had tried to distract her with whatever aspect of the ship's progress she was working on, but it never worked.

After a while, Lena made excuses as to why Kara couldn't come anymore. She couldn't remember the lie exactly; something about the president wanting all nonessential personnel off site?

'Sorry, Miss Luthor, I had trouble getting through the press at the front of the building.'

Jess jogged into the office with a bag of chinese food from a restaurant down the road. Lena gave her a small smile and sighed.

'It's alright. Just put it on my desk and go home. It's almost midnight.'

'Really?'

'Go.'

Jess thanked her several times on her way out of the door, and Lena couldn't help by laugh. She collapsed onto her sofa and kicked her legs out. Once again, Jess looked at her like she was the best boss in the world. If only she knew the actual reason for the night off.

A whooshing sound on the balcony announced her presence before the thump of her hitting the flooring. Lena sat up straight and brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes.

'Supergirl,' she called, 'please, come in.'

'Good evening, Miss Luthor.'

She entered the office and gave Lena a small bow.

'You wanted to see me?'

'Yes,' Lena said, 'would you like anything to eat?'

'No, I'm fine, thank you. I was surprised by your invitation. After all, we'll be seeing a lot more of each other from tomorrow onwards.'

'It's not tomorrow I wanted to talk to you about. Its three days ago. The conference. I…'

Lena stood and turned away from Supergirl for a moment.

'I wanted to make sure you knew my intentions for the project—that-that I only want good for this city.'

'Miss Luthor, if I believed anything otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to come along with you.'

Lena snorted. 'I thought you agreed to keep an eye on me.'

'Not on you. On space. I know the course you plotted passes through unoccupied parts of the solar system, but you can't be too careful.'

Lena nodded and turned back around. 'And—And about the conference, about that journalist not trusting my name, I—'

'Miss Luthor. Lena, that man was fishing for a reaction out of you and you handled him well.'

'I don't know about that.'

'Well I do. You're good at your job.'

'Thank you, but… that isn't what I meant.'

Supergirl's frown made her brow crease a little.

'In spite of what you just said, I wanted to make sure _you_ didn't have any reservations about this. About me.'

Supergirl shook her head. 'I trust you.'

'I thought my working with my mother during the Daxamite invasion might have made you second guess—'

'I trust you. The device you made saved the city that day.'

Supergirl took a step forwards and smiled. She glanced at the food on her desk, and then frowned a little as Lena's phone vibrated.

'The press won't leave me alone,' Lena said, 'probably hoping for a last-minute interview.'

'You should eat,' Supergirl replied, 'and turn that off. Take a night to enjoy this planet before we leave it.'

'You're right.' Lena nodded and switched her phone off. 'Thank you for this, Supergirl. Feels a little silly, vying for your attention when you have lives to save.'

'My cousin is already in the city, he'll be able to handle any issues tonight—and I brought this for you.'

She held out a silver watch with her logo engraved where the face should be. Lena allowed the band to settle on her fingers as she took it. It was warm.

'You can use this to call me if we run into trouble on the ship—I'm not anticipating any, mind, but it'll be good to have it. Even better when we're back on earth.'

'Just in case,' Lena said.

'Just in case.'

'Goodbye, Supergirl.'

'See you at 0800 hours sharp tomorrow, Miss Luthor.'

Lena gave her a mock salute as she flew out of the room and over the over the city as the last of the sunlight faded. She touched the face of the watch, ran her thumb in the grooves that made up her house symbol, and smiled before affixing it to her wrist.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kara had wanted to enjoy an evening with Alex. They had planned to make a dent in the large pile of TV shows on their 'must watch' list. When Kara had left to see Lena, Alex was in her flat, popcorn and Netflix at the ready, but there was no sign of her when she returned.

Kara used her vision to scan through the walls as she floated through an open window into her living room. No Alex.

'Kara.'

Her DEO comms system came to life, and Alex's voice came through after a rush of static.

'Where are you?'

'The DEO. J'onn wants a word.'

'Again?'

'Yeah. How soon can you get here?'

She had left her flat the second Alex revealed her location and was already half way there. She relayed this information to Alex, and used her hearing to scan the city for the tell-tale sounds of trouble. But there were no alarms. No screams. Aside from heavy traffic, National City was having a peaceful night.

She touched down on the DEO balcony at a little after midnight. Alex and Maggie were standing behind J'onn, who faced the array of DEO monitors with his hands clasped behind is back.

Maggie jogged over.

'Alex has been trying to talk him down, but I think this situation needs your touch,' she said.

'He's still not happy, is he?'

Alex marched over with a mirthless laugh. 'Not happy would be the polite way of putting it. He's threatening to call the whole trip off.'

'What?' Kara called J'onn's name, but he didn't turn.

'I'm thinking of your safety,' he said, 'I'm thinking of this city's safety.'

'Superman has the city covered for the next three weeks.'

Now he turned. He regarded Kara with a steely glint in his eye.

'And you? Kara, I know you'll have your powers, but that doesn't guarantee the safety of yourself or those on board. You're in a Daxamite ship, for crying out loud!'

'It's not a Daxamite ship anymore. Lena and her team made sure of that.'

'This is alien technology. We don't know enough about how it works to—'

Kara folded her arms. 'Did you seriously call me down here to hash out this argument for the third time this month? I made my choice.'

'What if Metropolis goes into crisis while superman is here?'

'He'll go back.'

'And leave this city defenceless.'

'Hey,' Maggie said, 'you do realise we have an outstanding police force here too, right? They were doing their jobs long before the girl of steel turned up—no offense, Kara.'

Kara pointed at Maggie.

'None taken. She's right, J'onn: the police are better equipped to handle threats, human or otherwise, than they've ever been. And if they're not, there's the DEO. You all existed before me.'

'Lena Luthor announced your absence to the whole world, Kara,' J'onn replied. 'Every hostile alien out there knows—'

'Please, J'onn. We both know some of these aliens came to National City _because_ I'm here.'

'She has a point,' Alex said. 'And J'onn, I get why you don't think the ship is safe. But Supergirl is not our only line of defence. I'll have a squad of DEO agents, and Maggie had-picked some of the best from the station too.'

Maggie shot Alex a quick smile, and Kara placed a hand on J'onn's shoulder.

'I know how much you love us,' she began, 'and I understand your fear. But I want to do this. I want to go onto a ship commissioned by Rhea to destroy this city and see it turned into something good.'

J'onn grunted.

'Don't worry,' Alex said, 'we'll keep her safe.'

'Come on, J'onn. Give us a chance,' Maggie added.

'…alright.'

Kara gave him a hug as Maggie and Alex cheered and clapped.

'I wish I could come with you,' he murmured.

'I'll be fine,' Kara said, 'I have my sister, Maggie and Lena. You know they won't let anything happen to me.'

Alex gave J'onn a hug after Kara, and she couldn't help but smile. The man's eyes still betrayed his thoughts, his misgivings. In spite of that, Kara thought, he still allowed them to leave. She'd never respected him more.

J'onn mentioned needing to rendezvous with superman and headed off, leaving Alex, Maggie and Kara in an awkward silence for a couple of seconds.

'Looks like TV night is cancelled—again.' Alex said.

Kara laughed. 'Well, that seems to be the tradition. Maybe we should name it something else and hope that un-jinxes it.'

They both laughed.

Maggie said, 'Kara, I've been meaning to ask: is Lena alright? She seemed kind of shaky at the press conference.'

Kara shrugged. 'That question, the one about trusting a Luthor, really threw her. And Kara Danvers' absence didn't help.'

'I told you you'd be better off going as Kara.' Alex said.

'And you were right.'

'What did Lena want tonight?' Maggie asked.

'Oh, she's worries that Supergirl might still harbour some doubts about her because she's a Luthor. I think I managed to persuade her otherwise.'

'That's good. She earned our trust a long time ago.' Alex replied.

Kara nodded towards the elevator. 'Shall we take this conversation to the nearest fast food place? I'm famished.'

Alex rolled her eyes. 'Sure, Kara. Whatever you want. I don't have a uniform I'd like to still fit into at the end of this three week trip or anything.'

'Oh, come on.' Kara said, 'there's a gym on the ship.'

'There is?'

'Oh, great,' Maggie said, 'thanks. Now she'll be spending more time there than with me.'

Alex wrapped an arm around her waist. 'You could always join me.'

'And get my arse handed to me again, but this time in front of my colleagues? Dream on, Danvers.'

Alex clapped her hands together. 'Okay, fast food. Who needs sleep, right?'

'Not me,' Kara replied.

'Lucky you.' Alex and Maggie said in unison.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'And you are?'

Lena raised her eyebrows at the man. She'd seen his name on the guest list, but she'd expected the Daily Planet's reporter to be someone like Lois Lane, not this guy.

The idea of being stuck on board with reporters far from thrilled her, but Kara was right in saying she needed the good press. And it was a good reason to have her best friend along for the ride.

'Marco Alvarez,' he stuck out his hand.

Lena took it. There was a gruffness to his tones she didn't like. He regarded her with the same look he'd given the airport receptionist who verified his identity: the entire world seemed to be something to frown at. Lena had been standing behind him in the queue.

'Nice to meet you.'

He raised his eyebrows. 'Clearly you haven't read any of my articles on your mother or your brother.'

'I have,' she replied, although only fifteen minutes ago.

'Well, then you'll be interested to know I've been commissioned to write two pieces: one on you, and another on this venture. I think we know which one the public are more interested in.'

Lena tensed her jaw. This caught the attention of a couple of her security personnel, and she waved them away. The airport security team had insisted they leave their weapons outside the building, but the sheer size of them both meant they had an intimidating presence regardless of whether or not they were armed. But, unlike the rest of the reporters allowed on the craft, Alvarez did not seem deterred.

'Do you intend to take the same stance as your colleagues?'

'What stance would that be?'

'The one that states I'm either as psychopathic as my mother, my offering of aid to reform the city are attempts to hide my true nature, or pure evil, just like my brother.'

'I prefer balanced articles,' he said. 'I hear your friend—Kara Danvers? May be the person to go to for the positives.'

Kara was standing mere metres away, her sister and her girlfriend right beside her. Alex tried to catch Lena's eye, but she didn't let her.

'Perhaps,' Lena replied.

'Anyone else?'

'Ask my staff, just don't get in the way of them doing their jobs,' Lena said.

He smiled, but there was no warmth to it. 'Or I'll be jettisoned out of the airlock?'

'Or I'll restrict your access to them.'

He held out his hand.

'It was nice meeting you, Miss Luthor. I hope we can foster a good working relationship in the future.'

Lena took it once more, but this shake was briefer than the last, and Alverez strode off the moment it was over, leaving Lena confused by the abrupt end to the conversation. Kara hurried over.

'Who was that guy?'

Lena told her his name and profession.

'Oh. Watch him,' she said, 'he seems… off. He was probing me for details about you earlier.'

'I agree—what kind of details?'

Kara deepened her voice in a crude attempt at impersonating him, 'is Miss Luthor in a romantic relationship? Does Miss Luthor keep in touch with her brother?'

Lena supressed an eye roll. 'So the usual crap, then.'

'Yeah, but still. Something about the way he asked made me nervous.'

'Noted.'

Kara turned her head to one side and studied her friend's face. Lena had always found her to be oddly perceptive, something that annoyed and amused her in equal parts.

'What's wrong?'

Lena took Kara's arm and motioned for them to stand a little further away from the crowd.

'Have you seen supergirl?' Lena asked.

Kara's eyebrows almost jumped into her hair. 'Me? Why would I—no. Why?'

'She hasn't arrived yet. We board in fifteen minutes—isn't she cutting it a little close?'

Kara chuckled. 'Now I know you're overthinking this. She can _fly._ The ship could take off without her on board and she could catch you guys up in mid-air.'

Lena tried to smile, but the action felt strained.

'Y-yeah. Yeah. I know you're right. It's just…'

'You're worrying too much.'

'I want everything to be perfect.'

'It will be,' Kara put a hand on her arm, 'and if it's not, you have a crack team of employees to make it better. See? You have it all covered.'

Lena wished she had the kind of certainty she saw in Kara's eyes.

'Miss Luthor?'

Kara turned and faced her sister. For the briefest of moments, Lena felt a mild amount of annoyance at the moment having been broken, but she swallowed this down and gave Alex one of her best professional smiles.

'Sorry to be a bother, but is everything alright over here? You seem nervous.'

'I'm fine, Alex. Thank you for the concern. And it's Lena. We've been over this.'

'Lena,' Alex smiled. 'Sorry. I'll get used to it one day.'

'Well, you've got 21 of them in space with me to practice.'

Lena did her best to keep her smile, but she wasn't fooling Kara or her sister any more than she was herself. Something was wrong about this picture. Not Alvarez, not Supergirl. Just something.

An electronic voice announced there were ten minutes until boarding. There was a great wave as people began to head for the automatic doors that led to the ship. Lena had deliberately disallowed any photos of the craft to be taken until today—last-minute touches to the look of it were still being completed well into the early hours of the morning.

Kara asked Lena if she should be the one to lead the charge to her craft, but she shook her head. She quite enjoyed watching people step out of the airport, turn the corner and stand, awestruck, before whipping out their phones or holding their cameras up for a photo.

'Well,' Maggie said, 'it's certainly had a makeover.'

Lena felt a genuine smile spread across her face as she studied the results of her late nights with the designer.

No trace of Daxam was left. The sheep was a sleek silver, with L-Corp's logo printed black on both sides. Large windows stretched across the upper part of the ship for the occupant's viewing pleasure. It took up the space of two runways, but the sheer power of engines meant there would be no need for a long take off. The test flights implied less than half the length of the runway would be utilized.

Alex and Maggie had their arms wrapped around one and other, and were pointing out various parts of the ship to each other.

'I've got to hand it to you,' Maggie said, 'this bucket really cleaned up nice.'

'Thank you. What do you think now you've seen the finished article, Kar—Kara? Where did she go?'

Alex and Maggie looked around as well.

'Oh, She probably just forgot something. I'm sure we'll see her on board.'

Lena's reply was cut off by a shout.

'Look! Supergirl!'

Lena looked along with the rest of the crowd. The tiny blue and red dot in the sky soon transformed into a woman, and she landed metres from the craft. She and Lena had agreed beforehand Supergirl would allowed to board first, and all the reporters went wild.

Alvarez shoved a couple of them out of the way as he battled for prime position in front of the crowd, but was shoved back in line by Lena's security.

It could have been Lena's imagination, but Supergirl appeared nervous. She approached the craft with a cautious walk instead of a stride, but she gained her bravado back as soon as the door was opened and flew inside, leaving Lena to wonder if she had just imagined the lapse in confidence after all.

She travelled around to the front of the crowd, and after bidding them welcome, lead the way towards the craft. She took a deep breath as Alex fell in step with her.

'You okay?'

'I'm fine,' Lena said, 'fine…'


	2. Chapter 2

This was no longer a Daxamite ship. No trace of Daxam remained.

Repeating this mantra to herself over and over didn't stop Kara from using her x-ray vision to pierce every wall, her hearing to search for something out of the ordinary. The place looked a lot like the inside of L-Corp or CatCo: polished floors, white walls and spacious rooms. And as far as she could tell, there was nothing sinister about the place. But her muscles still tensed with every step.

All the staff wore royal blue uniforms with the L-Corp logo printed in a silvery material over the top pocket, and a woman introduced herself as their tour guide while the rest of the guests poured in.

Kara decided to tag along with the tour. At first, she found herself wondering if that was the wrong decision, for as the guide showed the kitchens, lounge area and a canteen that looked more like a five-star restaurant, there appeared to be more eyes on the guide than her. But after a few minutes and a lot of pictures in which Kara did her best to not look like she was about to be attacked, everyone's attentions were firmly on the guide. Well, almost everyone.

'Supergirl?'

Alvarez. Kara turned around and read his name badge—and gave him a gracious smile.

'Hello Mr Alvarez,' she said.

'I'm with the Daily Planet.'

She nodded at the badge. 'So that says.'

They shook hands.

'Now,' he said, 'I know Kara Danvers is your usual lapdog, but I was hoping for a quick chat about this ship when you have a chance.'

'I only give interviews to Kara,' she replied, 'and she is not a lapdog.'

Alvarez held his hands up. 'Of course, of course. Bad phrasing, sorry. I couldn't help but notice the tension in your shoulders when you first walked onto the ship—can I ask—'

'We should catch up with the guide.'

Kara nodded over Alvarez's head, and he turned and stared at the gaggle of people heading off down one of the ship's larger corridors. She spotted Lena and Alex at the back, both glancing at herself and Alvarez every few seconds.

'Yes, we wouldn't want to get lost, would we?' Alvarez tried his hand a smile, but the act didn't reach his eyes, and he hurried over to the crowd in front of the guide.

From that point forwards, Kara stared a couple of paces behind the group. Every so often, Lena would glance behind and look worried, and Kara knew she was expecting her bespectacled friend to come running over, but she couldn't worry about that now. More people were inclined to notice if Supergirl was missing than if Kara was.

All the corridors were at least double the width of the originals. Several prints of famous paintings donned the walls outside their rooms, and Kara was surprised to discover that Kara Danvers' name was on the door to the left of Lena's room, and Supergirl's was to the right.

'I hope you don't mind,' Lena said as Kara walked over to Supergirl's door. 'I—I don't know if you sleep, or if you have luggage.'

Kara shook her head and smiled. 'This is perfect. Thank you.'

'If you would prefer somewhere more private I can—'

'This is all the privacy I need.'

Lena seemed relieved by this. As she stepped into her room, Kara did the same. The guide announced they had fifteen minutes to properly acquaint themselves with their rooms before the tour would continue.

No expense had been spared for Supergirl's room. A king-size bed dominated the space in front of a window that would have a far more inspiring view than the runway in a couple of hours' time. In the furthest corner form the door sat a fridge packed with treats and wine, and a microwave.

The ensuite bathroom was so large Kara was sure half the guests on the ship could fit in the room, and five could stand in the shower alone. Around a corner she found the largest bath she had ever seen.

She couldn't resist stepping back into the bedroom and digging her feet into the thick maroon mat the bed sat on. She next tried laying on the bed, and found it to be so luxurious she had trouble persuading herself she had to leave the room sooner than the allotted time.

She had to get into Kara's room. The corridor was empty, save for the tour guide at the end of it, deep in conversation with another member of staff. Kara slipped out of her room, shut the door and got into Kara's without being seen.

Kara's room was the same size as Supergirl's and a quick check around told her it contained all the same adornments. The only difference between the rooms was the pile of luggage at the foot of Kara's bed.

The smallest container, a backpack, was the first thing she opened. She had to leave the clothes she was wearing at the airport in the toilets, but brought an extra set of identical garments for that reason.

Someone knocked on her door just as she fastened the last button of her cardigan.

'Kara? Are you in there?'

She opened the door and found Lena breathing a sigh of relief outside.

'Sorry I had to run,' Kara said, 'I wasn't feeling well.'

'Are you okay now? Do you need a doctor?'

'Probably just nerves,' Kara shrugged it off and invited her inside.

Lena stepped over the threshold and rubbed her hands together.

'What do you think?'

Kara grinned her reply and gave her a hug.

'This is fantastic,' she said into her shoulder. 'Truly. Are _all_ the rooms this big?'

She nodded. 'We decided to treat all our guests to the same level of luxury.'

Lena fiddled with something on her wrist, and Kara caught a glimpse of a flash of silver before she hid it under the sleeve of her jacket.

'New jewellery,' Kara asked.

'Oh, uh, yeah. Sort of.' Lena slid her jacket sleeve away from the device.

Kara gasped. 'She gave that to you?'

'You've seen on one of these before?'

'I mean, yeah. James Olsen has one.'

'Oh. Wow.'

Lena covered the watch again. Kara could have imagined it, but she could have sworn Lena looked disappointed.

'Can all guests meet me at the end of the corridor, please?' The guide called. 'The tour is set to continue now.'

Lena and Kara filed out of her room. As guests trickled out of their respective bedrooms, Kara caught sight of Alex and Maggie in a room at the opposite end and waved. They came over.

'Lovely rooms, Miss Luthor,' Alex said.

'I'm glad you approve.'

'You'd be hard pressed not to.'

They all spun around. Alvarez scratched the side of his beard and gave them another of his emotionless smiles. He looked up and down the corridor.

'No Supergirl?'

'She told us she wants some time alone,' Alex said quickly.

'That's a shame. I was hoping to pick up breakfast with her. I suppose I'll have to ask Miss Danvers instead. Nice to see you've rematerialized, by the way.'

'Not interested, I'm eating with Lena. And no, I'm not going to tell you anything about her.'

He scratched the back of his neck. 'Ah, well, the jig is up. My cunning ruse thwarted before it had yielded me a single result. See you around, Miss Danvers.'

He shoved his way through to the front of the group and disappeared from view.

'He's a weird one,' Maggie said.

Lena frowned. 'I'm going to have security to keep an eye on him.'

'My boys could help as well if you'd like, Miss Luthor.'

'Lena, Maggie. You're as bad as your fiancée. And yes, that would be helpful. Thank you.'

Maggie nodded and left the group to go and talk to a gaggle of her officers.

'What did he want in the airport?' Alex asked.

'Same thing most reporters want,' Lena said, glancing at Kara, 'a story. He wants to interview my staff, find out more about me through them, I think.'

'Hmm. I don't like the look of him.' Alex replied.

'Who does?' Kara said.

'And I don't like the way he's sniffing around either of you. Before we leave, I might just make a quick call to a friend and run a background check…'

Alex sauntered off, her phone in hand.

Lena clapped her hands together and shook her head like a dog trying to be rid of a fly. 'Can't let that man ruin the fun.'

'Not a chance.'

They linked arms and headed back towards the now moving crowd.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lena paused, her croissant inches from her lips. 'Never known you to turn down food.'

'Hmm? Oh.' Kara pushed her plate away a little and frowned.

She put her croissant back on the plate and touched one of her friend's shoulders.

'Still not feeling well?'

Kara forced a smile. 'I'm okay. Really.'

The restaurant/canteen. As the guests awaited their food, several came up and congratulated Lena on the design of the place. Lena wondered which member of her well-meaning staff had let that slip. Alvarez tried the same tactic, but was promptly ferried away by one of Maggie's colleagues. He spared Lena a dirty look before returning to his seat.

'Take off isn't for another hour,' Lena said, 'we can get you to the med bay, make sure everything is as okay as you say before then.'

Kara shook her head. 'I'm not sick. Just… worried, I guess.'

'About what?'

'This Alvarez guy. He wants something more than a story. I can feel it.'

Lena frowned at her. She had no doubt that her friend was correct, but that was still a lie. Whatever was at the root of Kara's lack of appetite, Lena doubted it was anything to do with that man. She weighed pushing Kara for the truth against letting her speak in her own time.

'Hey. Like I said before, nothing could ruin this trip. Not even Alvarez.' Lena gave her best reassuring smile, which Kara returned without looking the least bit convincing.

Kara picked up one of her croissants and took a bite.

'Mmm.'

'I know, right?'

Lena grinned. She'd paid the chef at that fancy hotel a nice fee for his recipe. It had never seemed more worth it.

'So,' Kara said at a higher pitch than usual, 'you and Supergirl. You seem to be getting close.'

'Oh,' Lena traced the symbol on her watch. 'Yeah. I suppose we are. Has she spoken about me in your interviews?'

Kara nodded. She took another bite of her croissant.

'Well don't leave me hanging! Good things, I hope?' Lena reached across for her orange juice.

'She seems quite taken with you, actually.'

She almost inhaled the juice. Kara patted her back with enough strength to make her entire body judder as she coughed.

'I'm fine,' she caught Kara's arm before the next thud, 'what do you mean by "taken"?'

'I don't know. We've had conversations about other things before. Her cousin, Krypton. But these days, she mentions you a lot more than she does her cousin or past.'

'Why-why do you think that is?'

Kara shrugged. 'I can see why she would, I mean—I'm your friend. Maybe she sees you in a similar way?'

Lena glanced at her watch. 'I'd like it if she did. I-I mean…'

She didn't bother finishing that sentence. Kara's gaze told Lena she understood without the need for words. Perhaps, Lena thought, once again she understood a little too much. Her cheeks felt hot.

'Kara, Lena,' Alex strode over.

Lena coughed one more time and hoped Alex thought that was the reason for the red face instead.

'I thought you'd like to know—Alvarez came up clean. No priors, no known dubious connections. Maybe he really is an overzealous reporter.'

'With few social skills,' Kara added.

'That's good to know. Thank you for running that on such short notice.'

'You're more than welcome Miss—Lena. Could I borrow Kara for a moment?'

Lena smiled and nodded.

Danvers sisters. Lena only had to witness one conversation between them to know they were raised by the same people. Persistence and tenacity—their parents had done a great job. That, and closeness. Kara had once alluded to she and Alex not having the best relationship growing up, and Lena had struggled to believe it.

Kara returned after thirty seconds. She straightened the front of her cardigan and went back to munching away at her croissant.

'Everything alright?'

'Oh. Yeah. What were we saying?'

'Um, we were talking about Supergirl and, well…'

'I remember now. And I'm sure she'd love to speak to you more.'

'Me? I'm sure she has better things to be getting on with.'

'You helped her save National City. And if she can sit down with a reporter, she can talk to the CEO of L-Corp.'

'I wouldn't want to bother—'

'Lena. You wouldn't be bothering her. Trust me. Besides, for the next three weeks, she hasn't got a city to save. She's got a vacation. What better time to gain a new friend?'

'I'll speak to her later—you know, when she's around.'

'Fair enough.'

Lena stood up. She folded her napkin away and placed it on her empty plate.

'Going so soon?'

'You stay and eat,' she said, 'I've got things to do. CEO stuff.'

'Oh, okay. See you at the launch?'

'Count on it.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Supergirl walked over to Alvarez's room. His door was unlocked. She frowned and pushed it open.

Alex had been right to pull her away from Lena and ask Supergirl to snoop in his bedroom, just to be sure. Even if it did spoil her breakfast a little—but no more than she had herself.

She wanted to tell Lena the truth. Hiding Supergirl from her felt wrong, and Kara's intention was to steer the conversation in that direction, try and gauge Lena's reaction when she finally found the courage to reveal herself. But now there was an added problem: Lena appeared to be nursing some kind of crush on Supergirl.

Alvarez's room needed her full attention, and it didn't have it. Moments of her conversation with Lena kept on flashing through her thoughts and distracting her from the task at hand.

'Supergirl?' Alex had insisted on a proper comms system.

'I'm in his room. There's not much to see.'

Kara scanned the room with her x-ray vision, and found nothing out of the ordinary. He appeared to have already packed away his clothes, and the bathroom was freshly stocked with his toiletries.

'Nothing at all?'

'Nope. Is he still in the canteen?'

'Yeah. He's chatting to one of the waiters.'

'Good. I'm going to take a closer look.'

Sometimes, Kara thought, the humans had a point. X-ray vision didn't always cut it. Alvarez's bedside table contained a couple of fiction books, one a murder mystery and the other a romance.

'Anything?' Alex asked.

Kara relayed his book choices to her as she turned each book upside down and rifled through the pages. Aside from a bookmark, there was nothing hidden between the pages.

Next came his laptop. It was under the bed, and password protected as she'd expected.

'I could call Winn,' Alex suggested, 'he could talk you through getting in.'

'No. I don't think we have that kind of time. We launch in less than an hour, and breakfast is over in ten minutes.'

'Good point.'

Kara stared at the lock screen. There was a picture of Alvarez with his arm around a woman on a beach. He was at least ten years younger, and the woman looked around his age in the photo. She guessed they were both in their mid-twenties.

She put the laptop back under the bed, careful to place it where she got it from. A quick search through his wardrobe yielded nothing but a couple of packets of condoms. Kara decided Alex didn't need that info.

'He's standing up. I think you may need to get out, Kara.'

'One moment.'

The bottom of the wardrobe did have something. A tiny box her vision hadn't picked up on. The outside of it was canvas, but the inside...

'There's a container lined with lead in here,' Supergirl said, 'nothing inside, though.'

'Any clues as to what was in it?'

'None, but it's about the size of a ring box.'

'Could be nothing. Maybe there was a ring inside.'

'Yeah, but why line the box with lead? And I didn't notice any jewellery on him earlier.'

'Kara, get out of there, now. He's heading towards the elevator.'

'Okay, okay, I'm gone.'

She put the box back where had found it and shut the wardrobe doors. There was just enough time for Kara to step out of his room and march further up the corridor before a 'ding' sound announced the elevator was now on this level.

'Ah supergirl.'

She turned. 'Mr Alvarez.'

'You remembered my name.'

'We only met a couple of hours ago.'

'Ah, yes. Of course.' He scratched the back of his neck and came closer. 'I was wondering… no. Never mind.'

'What is it?'

'Will you be joining us at the launch?'

'Most likely not. Why?'

'It'd be nice to get a quote from you, is all.'

Kara narrowed her eyes. 'Why was that so hard to ask?'

He shrugged. 'It wasn't. I'm just… surprised. By your willingness to talk to humans.'

'I'm on a ship full of them. What else would I be doing?'

'Of course,' he forced a laugh, 'don't mind me. Just… thinking out loud, as it were.'

'Well, have a good morning, Mr Alvarez.' Kara nodded her goodbyes and turned away, intending to walk into her room.

'Wait—perhaps you'd like to join me? At the launch, I mean.'

'I'm afraid I can't.'

'Ah. Well, can't blame me for trying. See you around, Supergirl.'

'Goodbye, Mr Alvarez.'

Kara marched up to her room and stepped inside, then used her super hearing to make sure Alvarez did the same.

'There is definitely something weird going on with him.'

'I know,' Alex replied, 'I was listening. Willingness to talk to humans?'

'What do we do now?'

'Leave it with me,' she replied. 'Alvarez will be—'

'Alex? Hello?'

A sudden rush of static passed through the device, and Kara took it out of her ear to examine it. After a few seconds, the static passed, and Kara could hear Alex's voice again.

'Kara? Hey. What happened there? All I could hear was static.'

'I don't know. The same thing happened to me. Interference, maybe?'

'Don't see how.'

'I'll come and meet you in the canteen.'

'Okay, but do it as Kara Danvers. Lena's back, and she's looking for you.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Once again, Lena got to enjoy the sight of sheer awe on the faces of her guests. They would be watching the launch in style from a section of the ship designed specifically for it. At the very top of the craft, where the control hub for the entire ship had once sat, Lena had hollowed out the place, turned the walls into windows and added seating. The perfect place to watch the earth grow small and the stars larger.

The seating was arranged in front of a small stage, not unlike a theatre. Behind her was a small projector and a white screen with her presentation slides beamed onto it.

'Welcome,' she called to the crowd.

Kara was the first to enter the room, and Lena beckoned her onto the stage.

'Can you handle the slides?' she asked.

'No problem.'

Kara took a seat behind the projector and gave Lena a reassuring smile. Once the crowd was seated, Lena cleared her throat, waited for the murmuring to stop and began.

'The ship is set to launch in fifteen minutes, but before it does there are some safety protocols I would like to discuss with you.'

She nodded to Kara, and the slide changed from the L-Corp logo to that of a schematic of the ship.

'Firstly, in the event of a fire, all guests are to head to one of these three safety points and await further instruction. Should the need for evacuation arise, there are escape pods capable of taking every person on board the ship back to earth.'

Lena decided it was best they didn't know the 'escape pods' were actually repurposed fighter crafts designed for fast-paced combat.

'The safety points are here,' she pointed at the entrance, and canteen and a room a little ways past the living areas, 'here, and here. A member of staff will come around to tick of your name on a register before we leave.'

'It is also worth noting that the floors below the canteen and entrance are only accessible to staff. Any attempt to access these areas without permission will result in the individual or individuals being confined to their rooms for the duration of the trip.'

'What's down there?' Alvarez called out.

'The ship controls and staff living quarters,' Lena replied, 'along with the engine room and storage.'

'Will there be a tour?'

'No.'

A couple of the members of the press looked angered by this, but Lena soldiered on. She found she had less and less tolerance for the whims of the press. She nodded to Kara, and the slide changed again. This time, an image of the solar system popped up, and zoomed in on a space between earth and mars.

'This is the area we will be travelling through. There are plans for more ambitious journeys in the future, but for the Dawn's first voyage we are sticking an area of space deemed safe by NASA, as in there is no known alien or meteoric activity in this area at this time, and should not be over the next 21 days.'

'And if there is?' Alvarez again.

Lena gave him a wry smile. 'That is what the escape pods are for.'

She nodded at Kara to change the slide again, and this time a diagram of the seats they were all currently in popped up.

'Now, you will notice your seats have belts. We are not expecting turbulence of any kind, but health and safety is still a must. Please affix the belts now.'

Lena watched as Kara did so. Lena thought her eyes were playing tricks on her: the clips seemed dented as she forced one into the other.

'Okay, good. Now, this should be obvious, but at no point should anyone leave their seats over the course of the next ten minutes. In a couple of seconds, you will begin to feel a slight vibration—'

The 'slight' vibration her staff had warned her of nearly took her off her feet. Lena dashed for the empty chair next to Kara and continued her speech as she buckled herself in.

'Now,' she shouted, 'if you pay attention to the windows, you will begin to notice the craft rise…'

The vibration grew to a point Lena could barely stand, and then it stopped and the ship began to move down the runway. Several press officials gasped as the craft rose out of the air after only getting a few metres, and someone screamed.

'There is no need to be alarmed,' Lena called, 'you may feel your ears pop as you adapt to the pressure changes—'

Hers popped seconds after she got the words out. Her hearing was momentarily affected, but soon returned to normal. She waited another ten seconds before speaking again.

'Now all you have to do is keep your attentions on the windows—we'll be leaving the earth's atmosphere any moment now.'

Lena had seen countless satellite images over the course of her planning this trip, but nothing quite prepared her for the sight of the earth. The view outside became ever darker as they reached the outskirts of the earth's atmosphere.

Lena glanced at Kara. Her gaze was still fixed squarely on earth, and her expression was nearly unreadable.

'You alright?' Lena whispered.

Kara turned and smiled. 'It's beautiful.'

Lena had been disappointed when Supergirl hadn't joined the group, but she understood. This view was something the Kryptonian could enjoy whenever she wanted—perhaps it had lost its magic? Though Lena couldn't imagine it ever doing so.

'People of earth,' Lena said, 'welcome to space.'

The crowd laughed and clapped, and over her shoulder Lena could see even Alvarez looked genuinely pleased. But it was Kara who clapped hardest of all, and Lena thought of how glad she was to be able to share this experience with her friend.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Alvarez thought they were all stupid. Every guest had been awestruck by the sight outside the windows, including the CEO herself. What a fool of a woman she was, leaving her projector unattended. While she and her friend gazed out the window together, it didn't take much for Alvarez cycle back through the presentation and snap a quick photo of the schematics.

Now everyone was drinking themselves silly. It was barely midday back in the USA. He'd accepted the champagne he was offered by a waiter, but soon dumped it down the nearest plant pot and headed out of the room.

No one noticed. He passed a couple of staff members, but they too were giddy with the delights of space travel. All he had to do was smile and laugh along with them and they let him pass without question. The girl didn't notice him take a slip of paper out of her pocket.

He referred to the schematics photo several times as he decided on his route. _She_ wasn't happy. _She_ needed him to go faster.

She said, 'I have enough reserve power to keep this functional for another hour at best. I need a home…'

'I know,' he murmured back, 'and I'll have you there in minutes.'

The ring felt like it was burning a hole in his chest where it sat, held in place by a necklace chain. He'd tried wearing it on his finger once, but the scorch marks it left raised too many questions.

He stepped into the elevator and took the slip of paper out. Just like _she_ had said, below the elevator buttons was a small metal panel that could be pushed aside, and behind it a numerical pad. He keyed in the code on the slip of paper, and the elevator took him down.

'Yes,' the ring hissed in his head, 'yes, this is home. I can feel it. Take me closer.'

The renovations were only skin deep, it seemed. The bottom half of the ship bore a sharp resemblance to its Daxamite origins, more so than the lick of paint could cover.

'Left now,' the ring commanded.

Alvarez went left, and then right, and then left. The corridors were thinner down here, and a complicated array of lights along the walls flashed on and off as he walked. He passed several rooms in which staff members tapped away at consoles or sat around with drinks and food, laughing and joking. No one noticed him—he supposed Lena thought the warnings, the hidden panels and the code would be enough to keep people out.

It was hotter down here than on the rest of the ship, and Alvarez dashed thin beads of sweat off of his forehead.

'They have desecrated it,' the ring hissed, 'the last remnant of my home on earth, and it is a pit in which human filth lays.'

'We're going to fix that,' he said.

'Yes, my pet. We are. Left again. We are almost there.'

Alvarez could see it. The engine room was vast, and the source of the heat seemed to be a large motor in the centre of it. The ring seemed hotter now, too, and as he took it off it alternated between hissing and laughing. He held is close to his face and peered at pulsating neon green light that ran around the band.

'Head to the back of this room, you should find another control panel.'

He did so, and stared at the array of nobs and buttons.

'And?'

'Look towards your feet. A small panel.'

He found it. A black square of metal among the silver. He fit his nails into the groove and attempted to pry it open. The ring laughed at his efforts.

'Remove me from this chain and place me against it.'

He did so. The ring burned so hot in his hand he gasped and flung it towards the panel, and the ring stuck to the dead centre as though it was magnetised.

'What the—'

'You have done well,' the ring said as it began to glow red, 'and now you should leave. This room will be hazardous to human life in a moment or two.'

'But—what now? What are your orders for me?'

The ring laughed again as it glowed white.

'You were so easy to manipulate. So intent on bettering your station. Go now, and enjoy the last of your days. Soon, I will take control, and Supergirl, the Luthor and her minions will pay for their misdeeds.'

'What are you talking about? "My last days?" I helped you! I—I—'

'You proved yourself useful, but that usefulness has reached its end. Go, now.'

The panel the ring was stuck to fizzed and spat molten metal onto the floor as the ring sank into it. Alvarez tried to grab it back as its laughter reached ever higher pitches. He howled and pulled his burnt fingers away.

'What are you doing? What have you done?'

'You will see, my dear human. But you will not know your part in all this.'

With a final bout of laughter, the ring disappeared through the panel, and the molten metal reformed around it, as though the ring had never been there.

Alvarez studied his burnt fingers for a moment in shock.

'Where am I? What did I—what did I do?'

He turned and walked towards the exit, and just as he left two staff members came barrelling towards him.

'How did you get down here?'

'Stay where you are.'

One spoke into walkie talkie, while the other shoved Alvarez into a wall and held his hands behind his back.

'What did I just do?' He whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

'And you're sure he didn't do anything, didn't touch anything?'

'Yes, Miss Luthor, we're sure. The whole floor has been checked and rechecked five times now.'

Lena nodded and dismissed the man. He was a member of her security team.

She was in the conference room with Maggie, Alex and Supergirl. The room was small, with a white table in the centre and a potted plant next to a window. She'd wanted Kara to be in as well, but Maggie had put her foot down on that one, said that this wasn't a civilian matter.

'Well,' Maggie said, 'you called it. Alvarez is a sneaky son of a bitch.'

Alex nodded. 'But whatever it was—he's hardly being forthcoming. If I have to listen to him say he doesn't understand why he's being persecuted one more time…'

Maggie put a hand on Alex's arm. 'Easy there, Danvers. I don't want to have to arrest my partner.'

'The man in that room isn't behaving at all like the man I met hours ago,' Supergirl said.

Lena turned away from them and stared out of her window. Three hours before, she'd been enjoying drinks with Kara and toasting to the success of Project Rejuvenate. Now, her guests were partying upstairs and she was stuck with this mess to clear up.

She'd found the view of space awe-inspiring at first, but now it seemed tarnished by this latest drama. Could nothing go off without a hitch when the name Luthor was attached to it?

'I just wanted one thing to go right,' Lena mumbled. 'One damn thing.'

'I can try speaking to him,' Supergirl offered, 'perhaps he would be more pliable if I offered him an interview in exchange for the truth.'

Lena turned around. 'You'd do that?'

'Of course. I want to know how he came to have those burns as much as you do.'

'Thank you, Supergirl. I won't keep you.'

She nodded and headed out of the room. Alex and Maggie glanced at each other and then looked at Lena, worried.

Lena groaned. 'What is it now? Has something else gone wrong?'

'Earlier on today,' Alex said, 'I had Supergirl search through Alvarez's room. She found ring box in the base of his wardrobe. The box was lined with lead.'

'Lead? But Supergirl can't see through that, right?'

'Exactly.'

'But there was nothing in the box.'

'No.'

Maggie stepped forwards and placed her hands on the table. 'We could send my boys in, do a full sweep of his room.'

'No,' Lena said, 'that'd attract the attention of the other guests for sure. And if Supergirl says the room has been searched, I trust her to do her job.'

'In all fairness, Supergirl did have to get out of there before the search was complete,' Alex replied.

'Well she can finish it while she speaks with Alvarez,' Lena replied.

Maggie said, 'I still think we should get some trained eyes in there. And the guests are bound to notice something is up when Alvarez doesn't come out of his room.'

'I know,' Lena said, 'but we can account for that—say he's not well, or something. Alex, you examined his fingers. What can you tell me?'

'The burns are superficial—they'll be completely healed in a couple of weeks,' Alex folded her arms. 'I'm more interested in how he reacted when I tried to listen to his heart.'

'Why was that interesting?' Maggie asked.

Lena could see the frustration written plain on the cop's face, but she couldn't worry about stepping on toes right now.

'He wouldn't let me place the stethoscope on his chest—flinched away whenever I brought it near, and when I asked him what was wrong he wouldn't say.'

'Odd,' Lena said. 'What was his behaviour like otherwise?'

'He seemed anxious. Kept mumbling under his breath. I didn't catch a word of it.'

She turned away from them both again, folded her arms and thought for a moment.

'Maggie,' she said, 'how about you personally search Alvarez's room while Supergirl talks to him?'

Maggie nodded. 'On it.'

She squeezed Alex's arm as she passed her and left the room also. Alex stared at Lena for a few seconds before speaking.

'This may be nothing,' she said.

'I know.'

'Alvarez could have just been nosy and gotten too close to the motor—that would explain the burst fingers, at least.'

'Yeah.'

'But you don't believe that for a second, do you?'

'No. Maybe it's just the Luthor in me, but I feel like there is something else going on here, something bad, and we're in the dark.'

'I feel the same way,' Alex said, 'though that could be the agent in me. Let's just see what Maggie and Supergirl discover and go from there.'

They both nodded at the suggestion, but neither seemed able to meet the other's eyes. Lena knew Alex, like herself, wasn't suited to waiting around for answers. She wanted to be the one to go out and find them.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As she walked through the building, Kara plastered a fake-happy smile back onto her face. She greeted a couple of guests as they passed, agreed to selfies with the drunk ones, and then turned off into the mercifully quiet corridor where Alvarez's room was.

Two members of Maggie's team were standing outside, and nodded to her as she approached.

She knocked on the door and received no reply. Her super hearing was able to pick up the sounds of someone sobbing.

'Mr Alvarez,' she knocked again, 'this is Supergirl. Can I come in?'

Still no answer. So Kara opened the door anyway, and froze.

Alvarez had trashed his room. The bed had been stripped and pulled in front of the bathroom door, and the wardrobe doors were open and the clothes missing. His bedside table now looked like kindling.

Kara called his name again.

'Stay away,' he shouted, 'I'm safe in here—just stay away!'

'Hey,' Maggie came up behind her, 'Lena wants me to… what the hell?'

Kara motioned for her to stay back, and she walked over and pushed the bed back into its original position. Maggie tried the handle.

'Mr Alvarez,' she called, 'are you decent? If so, unlock the door.'

'Leave me alone,' he cried back.

'We need to talk to you,' Kara said.

'GO AWAY!'

'This isn't negotiable,' Maggie called, 'so you either open this door right now or Supergirl will open it for you.'

Kara and Maggie listened to the sound of sodden footsteps grow closer to the door. The door clicked, and the footsteps stomped away.

'I'll go first,' Kara said.

She stepped into the room and failed to hide the surprise on her face in time. Alvarez was sitting in what she could only describe as a nest. He'd dragged all his clothes and the bedding into the shower, arranged them into a cup shape, sat in the middle and turned the shower on.

'This keeps getting weirder,' Maggie murmured.

Alvarez was sitting with his knees touching his chest, fully clothed, hair lank and covering his eyes. The bandages Alex had placed over his burns were soaking, and one dropped off his pointer finger as they stared and revealed an angry looking welt beneath.

Kara walked over and turned the shower off. She knelt down in front of the man and gave him a cautious smile.

'Let's get you out of there, alright?'

He shook his head and showered Kara with droplets of water.

'I'm safe in here,' he mumbled, 'she can't get me.'

Kara turned back to Maggie. 'Get Alex.'

She nodded and left the room.

'Marco, you're soaking wet,' Kara said, 'you'll be freezing if you keep sitting there.'

Suddenly, he leapt up.

'Turn the water on,' he yelled, 'turn the water on! She can't get to me when the water is on!'

He bashed the button on the wall several times until a thick stream of water poured out of the nozzle and drenched him all over again. Kara narrowly missed the spray as she dodged away from it.

'Who can't get to you?' She asked.

Alvarez jabbed his temple several times.

'Her-her-HER! She tells you her plans and laughs at you when you fail—and even when you succeed you're not good enough—stupid humans! So far behind, so stupid.'

The jabs became harder with every poke and neared his eyes, so Kara took his arm to make sure he couldn't injure himself. He strained against her with all his might, but it did him no good. He sat back exhausted, tipped back his head and drank a little of the shower water, instead.

The arm of Kara's suit was now as sodden as he was.

'Who is this voice? What is her name?'

He closed his mouth and stared at Kara for a moment. His widened eyes narrowed to a normal side, and his mouth retreated to a frown.

'You know her,' he said in a monotonous fashion. 'She knows you too, Kara Danvers.'

Supergirl took a step back. 'What—'

'Supergirl? What's the situation?' Alex came in behind her, and Kara was relieved to see Lena did not accompany her and Maggie.

'Alex—he knows who I am. He just called me Kara Danvers!'

Alex rush passed Kara and grabbed his shoulders.

'Hey!' she yelled into his face, 'how do you know my sister, huh? How do you know who she is?'

Alvarez's smile was enough to Alex remove her hands and for Maggie to shudder and step back. He widened his eyes and glared straight at Kara in a manner that made him look deranged.

'She told me.'

Alex glanced back at Kara in shock.

'He doesn't mean me,' Kara said, 'he was talking about this voice, a woman—and something about her finding humans stupid.'

'Lena Luthor,' he mumbled, 'Lena Luthor. Such a nice name. Lena Luthor rolls off of your tongue, doesn't it? Too bad the name is owned by a not nice lady. Oh well. She'll be dead soon.'

Kara saw red. She grabbed Alvarez around the neck and slammed him into the wall of the shower.

'Kara!'

'What're you doing?!'

'What do you mean Lena Luthor will be dead soon?'

Alvarez tried to reply, but all he could manage was a gurgling sound as water crashed into his open mouth. Kara let go of him, and he fell to the floor, coughing and rubbing his neck.

'Kara,' Alex barked, 'step outside. Now.'

She didn't argue. Now her uniform was soaked through, and the police officers outside the room stared as she passed. Maggie stayed back with Alvarez.

'That was out of order,' Alex said.

'You heard him,' Kara shouted, 'she threatened Lena!'

Alex turned to the officers. 'Take five, guys.'

'We don't leave unless Detective Sawyer says so.'

'And when I walk back in there and tell her you're ignoring an FBI agent, what do you think she'll say?'

They hurried off.

'That FBI cover must be wearing a little thin by now,' Kara said.

Alex shrugged. 'It's useful. And don't change the subject. What the hell were you thinking back there?'

'I was thinking he just threatened Lena. Alex, if he said Maggie were to die soon what would you—'

'Don't,' Alex held up a hand. 'Seriously. Look at him, Kara. The man is having some kind of breakdown.'

'I didn't realise you'd taken a psychology degree.'

'You don't need a psychology degree to see that man is clearly not well. You shouldn't trust a word that comes out of his mouth, you hear me? Not a word.'

Kara frowned. 'He started talking about humans like they were some other species to him.'

'He's not an alien.'

'I know that. But I think whoever 'she' is might be.'

Alex ran a hand through her hair and sighed. 'Did you not just listen to a word I said? Kara: you can't trust his words—they probably don't even make sense to him.'

'Alright, alright, you've made your point. What do we do now?'

'You need to relay this info to Lena, and tell her we're going to have to go back to earth and drop this man off at a mental hospital. He needs a kind of help we're not equipped to provide.'

'But there are escape pods, can't we—?'

Alex shook her head.

'Protocol dictates they are only to be used in the case of a real life or death situation. We have enough pods for everyone now, but if one is missing we may not be able to take all the staff. Lena will have to reschedule. I'm sorry, Kara. Really, I know how much Lena has banking on the good press. But dealing with this is beyond our means.'

'You're right, you're right…'

Kara turned and made to walk away, but Alex began to speak again.

'I'm surprised you'd compare Lena and Maggie,' she called.

'Why? You love Maggie. I love Lena.'

'Yeah, but in a different way. Unless there's something you're not telling me.'

Kara shrugged. 'I'm going to change uniforms and update Lena.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lena needed a stiff drink, not champagne. She set her glass down on the conference room desk and frowned at it. One of her staff had brought her a chair, but she didn't want to use it. Having the ability to pace was about the only thing keeping her sane.

'Miss Luthor?'

Supergirl. Lena smiled as she entered and hoped she'd misread the expression on her face. Please, she thought, no more bad news.

'What did Alvarez say?'

She looked uncomfortable. Lena wondered if she should offer the seat.

'Mr Alvarez isn't making a lot of sense,' Supergirl replied. 'Agent Danvers believes he is having a… breakdown.'

'You're kidding me.'

'I wish I was.'

'He's going to need transport back to earth.'

Supergirl nodded. 'I'm so sorry.'

Lena gripped the edges of the desk for a moment. She wanted to kick herself for agreeing to create enough escape pods for her staff and the guests, but no extra. They had to go back.

'I'm sure you already know that—'

'We're going back to earth? Yes. Was there anything else?' She asked through gritted teeth.

'Just that… Alvarez is pretty convinced you're going to be killed by "her".'

Lena looked up at her in surprise. 'Her? Who?'

'I have no idea. He kept mentioning this woman, someone who apparently hates humans and had a plan for him.'

'But that's a part of the breakdown,' Lena said.

'Alex is assuming so, yes.'

'Then there's nothing to worry about. We'll get back to earth, I'll get lynched by the board and probably lose my job…'

'If I may say, you're taking the threat on your life in your stride.'

She snorted. 'I'm a Luthor, Supergirl. If I get less than ten of those in my inbox before sunrise I'm having a good day.'

Supergirl seemed a little shocked by this, but Lena waved a dismissive hand through the air.

'Don't worry about it,' she said. 'And thank you for being so prompt. I suppose we have no more of an idea as to why he went down to the base of the ship?'

'None, I'm afraid. I can try speaking to him, but—'

'There wouldn't be much point.'

'No.'

Lena turned away again. 'Well, I better make the necessary arrangements. It'll take all night to prepare, and—'

She was cut off by the sound of guests whooping and cheering somewhere outside.

'I'll let them know this evening. No sense in ruining their fun for the moment.'

Supergirl bowed her head.

'Thank you for your help today,' Lena said.

'I didn't really do anything.'

Lena smiled. 'You did more than you think, trust me on that.'

'It… may be better if you stay away from Mr Alvarez for now,' Supergirl said, 'he may be the one who wants you dead, after all.'

'Of course. I'll have my staff and the police on board handle him.'

Supergirl nodded. 'I'll see you later, Lena.'

'Yes…'

She paused by the door. 'Unless there was something else?'

Lena swallowed. This wasn't the right time for this conversation at all. But there she was, her hair a little wet and a concerned look on her face when Lena didn't answer straight away.

'I was talking to Kara a little earlier.'

Her eyebrows jumped. 'Oh?'

'She seemed to think, well, it's a bit silly, really. But perhaps you'd like to meet up for a drink, or a meal, or something?'

A confused smile played about her lips. 'Like… a date?'

'Oh, no, no. I meant as friends. I'd like to get to know you more.' A pink tinge appeared on her cheeks before she could swallow the embarrassment.

She continued, 'I-I mean, it looks like I'll have some time on my hands seeing as this is falling through, and I thought you might like to…'

At last, she smiled.

'I'd like that. You could use that to call me.'

She indicated the device on Lena's wrist, and she touched the symbol for the millionth time that day.

'O-oh. Anytime I like?'

'Mmm-hmm.'

'Well, I might just do that. Thank you, Supergirl.'

She gave Lena one last smile as she left the office.

She touched the watch and wondered if Supergirl let James Olsen call on her whenever he wanted. Or was it just Lena?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kara changed into her human clothes and wandered down to the office. The police officers Alex dismissed still weren't back, so Kara found it easy to enter her room as Supergirl and exit as Kara Danvers.

She made her way back into the viewing room she'd watched the blast off from. According to her watch, it was 3 p.m. on earth, and most of the guests were drunk out of their minds. Kara waved away the champagne she was offered and took a seat in the viewing deck.

'Kara.'

She looked up. Lena stood over her, wringing her hands.

'What's up?'

'Come with me.'

Lena lead her out of the room and over to the conference room with tense shoulders. Kara swallowed and tried her best to look confused as she shut the door behind them.

'Are you alright?'

'No.'

Lena went on to explain the Alvarez situation, and sat back in the chair, defeated when she was done. Kara allowed her mouth to hang agape for a few seconds, deeming that necessary for effect, and then wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders.

'Lena…'

'I know.'

'And you still have no idea what he was doing? What he was planning.'

'None. I wasn't supposed to tell you, mind. So you're going to have to act like you have no idea what I'm talking about if you see your sister.'

'That's not a problem.'

Lena sighed and stood up. 'Maybe I shouldn't have told you—I don't know. It's not like you can do anything.'

'I can be there for my friend,' Kara replied.

Lena turned and gave her a sad smile.

'That means the world to me, really. Your support… but I feel so defeated. This was supposed to be L-Corp's biggest venture yet, we were supposed to set the standard for commercial space travel.'

Kara hung her head.

'When do we head back?'

'My team say it's going to take them a few hours to change our trajectory and alert the necessary organisations on earth, and getting cleared to land will take a few hours more. So tomorrow morning, looks like.'

'The guests don't know yet.'

'Well, they're mostly drunk,' Lena sighed, 'I could use something as well…'

'So have something.'

She shook her head. 'I should remain clear-headed in case anything else crops up. A drunk boss wouldn't be much use in a crisis.'

'Fair point.'

Kara perched herself on the edge of the desk, and Lena poked her leg.

'I took your advice, you know.'

'Hmm?'

'About Supergirl. I asked her if she'd like to meet me for lunch or something when we got back to earth.'

Kara gasped. 'Like… a date?'

Lena burst out laughing. 'That's what she said! No, I meant as a friend.'

'Oh.'

'You seem disappointed.'

'I'm not, I just...Well.' Kara shook her head.

'Come on.'

'It's fine.'

Lena poked her. 'Out with it.'

'Really, it's nothing.'

'It's clearly not, and I want to know what it is.'

Kara rolled her eyes and let a half-hearted laugh escape before she said, 'you're really persistent.'

'Hey, my career's going down with this ship. I could use a distraction.'

'Okay, one: your career is _not_ over. You're an amazing CEO. Two: I—'

The door opened, and Alex stepped in. She looked from Kara to Lena a couple of times, and sighed.

'Maggie is not going to like this,' she said.

'I haven't told her anything,' Lena said.

'Yeah, told me what?' Kara added.

Alex stared at the both of them.

'Okay,' Lena stood. 'She knows. I needed her support.'

Alex shrugged. 'Fair enough. You're both terrible liars. Lena, we've searched Alvarez's room thoroughly—there's nothing to see.'

'I see. Well, thank you for your efforts.'

'No need for thanks.'

'No, there is. You, Maggie and Supergirl have gone above and beyond.'

'That's the job,' Alex replied, but she nodded and thanked her all the same.

'Miss Luthor?'

Kara turned. By the door was a member of staff, but this time in a grey uniform. She nodded to Kara and Alex, then returned her attentions to her boss.

'Yes?'

'You're needed in the control room.'

'Lead the way.'

Lena made her apologies and followed the woman out of the room. Alex pointed at the chair.

'Sit down,' she ordered.

'What? Come on, Alex.'

'Sit.'

Kara did as she was told. Alex grabbed the arm of the chair and leaned over Kara. She shrank back into the chair a little.

'What are you doing?' Alex asked.

'Sitting?'

'Don't be smart. Kara, I know you have a thing for Lena.'

'What?' Kara felt herself blushing. 'You're ridiculous!'

'Kara. You know I can see right through your lies, right?'

'I'm not lying, Alex, and I'm done with this conversation.'

Kara made to stand up and walk away, but Alex walked over to the door and blocked it.

'I'm not doing this,' she said.

'Okay, fine,' Alex said, 'but I hope you know what you're doing. Befriending her as Kara and doing whatever it is you're doing as Supergirl—it's going to get messy. How do you think Lena's going to feel if she finds out her best friend lied about her identity?'

Kara left the room.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lena remembered all the late nights she'd spent pouring over the designs of this place. How many hours of sleep had she missed trying to make the ship just right? She'd spent the most time in the engine and control rooms, chopping and changing the Daxamite technology, then realising the intellect of whomever built this craft was far superior to her own and changing it all back. She and her team possessed the knowledge required to understand how it worked, but not to replicate it.

Much of the rest of the ship had to be stripped away in its entirety and rebuilt—the damage it sustained when it was taken down was too great. But this was a simple task, for the technology on the upper floors was simpler to understand. When it was built back up, Lena had strove to make every area guests were allowed look as human as possible. The same couldn't be said for the base of the ship.

This was Daxamite, pure and simple. Much of what was down here could not be changed without rendering the ship unable to fly, even the décor. Splashing a coat of silver paint over the greens and blacks did little to humanise it.

Lena found herself accustomed to the style after hours spend roaming the corridors down here, but she knew some of the newer members of staff were not.

Adrian Ryans was the best pilot Lena could have hoped for. He and his team had gotten to grips with the Daxamite controls faster than any other group and were able to understand and correct their mistakes faster, as well. He was ex-army, preferred keep his head shaved and wasn't one for small talk.

'Captain Ryans,' he and Lena shook hands as she entered.

'Miss Luthor. We have a problem. Come with me.'

He directed her over to the series of control panels used to steer the ship and control almost every other aspect of the ship's habitability. A quick glance at one of the screens told her oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide levels were all optimal.

Ryans lead her over to a member of his team, seated at the largest console in the room and scratching his head.

'Warner. Tell her what you told me.'

'Miss Luthor,' the man seemed a little flustered by her presence. 'I—I've tried to change our trajectory as ordered four times now, but the ship is not changing course.'

'So we're still heading further into space?'

'Affirmative,' Ryans said, 'and we're having trouble contacting earth. All we hear over the comms system is a rush of static.'

Lena placed a hand on her forehead.

'Diagnostics?'

'No problems with the ship. According to the software, every aspect of the craft is running as it should.'

'And this never happened in any of the test runs.'

'No.'

Lena turned back to the member of staff who had brought her down here.

'Get the repair team mobilized. Make them search.'

Ryans cleared his throat. 'With all due respect, Miss Luthor, there isn't much point. All scans indicate—'

'Yes,' Lena said, 'I can see what the scans indicate. But clearly they are wrong, or we would be plotting a course for earth right now!'

Ryans put his hands behind his back and stared at the floor. 'Ma'am.'

Lena sighed. 'I'm sorry, Ryans. That was unnecessary.'

'Miss Luthor?'

Another member of staff replaced the last. She wore the royal blue uniform of upstairs.

'Yes?'

'Detective Sawyer wishes to speak with you about Alvarez. She says it's urgent.'

'Let her down.'

'But that's against protocol. She could wait—'

'Damn the protocols. Bring her down here.'

'Right away.'

Ryans cleared his throat again. 'A detective, ma'am?'

Lena nodded. 'Yes.'

'Do you think it's prudent to allow her down here when—'

'Maggie is a good police officer. She may not know how to fly a ship, but her skillset may be useful.'

There wasn't a great deal Lena could do until Maggie arrived. She hated feeling like a loose end, so she marched over to one of the consoles and stared at its readings. From what she could tell, Ryans was correct in saying there appeared to be nothing wrong.

'Not sure about the paint job down here, Lena.'

Lena turned to face Maggie. 'Now you see why this area if off limits. What've you got for me?'

'Alvarez us getting worse. He's screaming and ranting about this woman and a ring, and he's making less and less sense. Some of the other guests are beginning to notice something's up, too. I've had three ask me if he's alright so far.'

Lena swore under her breath.

'Ryans, fill her in.'

Ryans gave her a concise account of exactly what the problem was, and Maggie frowned.

'This has to be to do with Alvarez,' Lena said, 'right? He must have done something.'

'Agreed,' Maggie said, 'would you mind if I checked out the engine room?'

'Not at all. One of my staff can show you the way—yes, Captain?'

'Ma'am, Detective Sawyer is no mechanic.'

'So let her take one with her,' Lena waved a dismissive hand, 'two sets of eyes are better than one.'

'I won't let you down,' Maggie said with a nod.

Lena gave her a weak smile.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maggie missed her firearms. She always felt a lot safer with her main strapped to her hip, her backup in her right boot. Wandering around a formerly hostile ship without any form of defence made her feel naked.

The mechanic was a nervous looking man. He kept on glancing left and right, looking from Maggie's face to her badge. He did it so many times she was left wondering if this wasn't the first time he'd been in contact with the police and made a mental note to find out his name later.

'How far away is this engine room?' Maggie asked after a couple of minutes of walking in silence.

'Around this corner.'

Maggie motioned for the mechanic to stand behind her. She wasn't expecting any trouble, but it didn't hurt to be cautious.

'This area has been checked already—'

'Shh!'

She stepped inside, making sure to shift her centre of bodyweight from one foot to the other in case someone jumped her.

But the room was empty. She straightened up and motioned for the mechanic to follow her in, but still made sure he stayed behind her.

'Can I check now?' He asked.

'Okay, but—wait. What _is_ that?'

Something caught her eye at the back of the room, underneath a panel with a series of buttons and dials on it. A square of metal coloured differently to the rest of the room—did it just eject that ring?

The lead-lined ring box. Maggie walked over and knelt down. This thing would definitely have fitted in it.

'Can I come further in?' The mechanic asked.

'Stay where you are for now.'

What was that glowing green band through the middle of the silver? Maggie reached out…

Laughter filled her ears.

'Humans… so stupid…'


	4. Chapter 4

'You can't tell me the noises coming from that room are normal. Is he sick?'

Kara watched Alex and the reporter from the other end of the corridor. She'd been ushering reporters away from Alvarez's room for the last three hours, and it wasn't getting any easier now the guests all had some food in them and were sobering up.

'Sir, like I said: this room is off limits, and the medical team are helping Mr Alvarez. Now, please: go back to the canteen and finish your lunch.'

'I've finished it.'

Alex's face read "do I look like I care?" But to Kara's surprise, she didn't say anything. She smiled and pointed at the elevator. The man huffed and muttered under his breath right up until the doors closed behind him.

'I know you were listening to that,' Alex mumbled, 'so get over here. I need to speak with you.'

Kara came over. She fiddled with her glasses as she walked past a couple more reporters, but neither of them paid her any mind.

'What's up?'

She nodded towards Alvarez's door.

'I've been informed there is some kind of problem getting the craft out of here—it won't change course.'

'What?! How—'

'Don't shoot the messenger. I don't know the details—a member of staff came and told me at Lena's request.'

'I should go down there, see if I can help.'

'Maggie's handling it.'

Kara nodded. Alvarez let out another pitiful wail, and the reporters down the corridor looked at his door, then at Alex and returned to muttering amongst themselves.

'I'm not sure how much longer I can keep the peace,' Alex said, and then she chewed the inside of her cheek.

'Lena should be up here,' Kara said.

'No way. Kara, if I had my way, no one would be on this floor. Alvarez only has to belt out your identity once for it to be all over the news when we get back to earth.'

'You're right,' Kara murmured, 'sorry. Can't you knock him out or something?'

'I can't get near him,' she replied, 'and this medical bay isn't as well equipped as the one in the DEO. I gave him some codeine, but there was no change. Either he's in more pain than that can touch, or he's in none at all.'

Another wail. Kara shuddered.

'You alright?' Alex asked.

'Yeah. No. Being on a Daxamite craft with a screaming man and no way of getting back to earth…'

'The two are probably connected, I know.'

Kara pointed at the door. 'He must have done something to cause this while he was down there, right? I mean, there's no other explanation.'

'I agree, but good luck getting any sense out him. Our best lead might be insane.'

Kara placed her hands on her hips and frowned.

'Excuse me?'

A woman walked up. Kara had seen her at the launch: she was the one who screamed at take-off.

Alex smiled. 'Is everything alright?'

'Th-that's what I wanted to ask you. There are all these rumours flying around about the man in that room—they say it's the radiation out here that made him like that—is that true?'

Kara and Alex glanced at each other.

'No,' Alex said, 'no. That's not true at all. He has suffered some kind of mental breakdown.'

'But that could have been caused by the radiation, right?'

'Agent Danvers was just telling me his notes suggest long-term mental health issues. This isn't anything to do with radiation,' Kara replied, 'and the ship is protected from that, anyway.'

The woman brightened almost immediately.

'Oh! Well, I'll go and tell the rest who were worried. Thank you for the confirmation.'

Alex turned to Kara as she hurried away.

'Bad move.'

'Why? Better mental health issues than radiation.'

'I see your point, but lying has its downsides. And that story was full of holes: you ever heard of patient confidentiality? They wouldn't let just anyone see medical notes, or relay that information to a reporter without the patient's consent.'

'Well I didn't see you coming up with a better plan!'

'Shh!'

The two reporters from down the corridor glanced over again. Alex put a hand on Kara's arm.

'Alright, alright. You're right: that at least solves one issue. But now… Maggie?'

She stepped off of the elevator and greeted Alex and Kara with a warm smile when she noticed them.

'Hey, you two,' Maggie said.

Kara returned her smile. 'I take it things are going well down there?'

Maggie's face fell.

'Oh, no. The mechanic can't locate the fault, the engine room is clear, and Lena is going mental.'

Alvarez screamed, and Maggie pulled a face.

'Maybe that wasn't the best phrasing. My bad.'

'But—babe, I don't understand. Why did you look so cheerful when you first came in, then?'

Maggie shrugged. 'I got to see you again.'

Alex laughed as Maggie wrapped her arms around her waist and lifted her up.

'You only saw me a couple of hours ago,' she said as she batted at Maggie's shoulders.

Kara cleared her throat. 'Guys.'

Maggie put Alex down and straightened her shoulders.

'Oh, of course. What can I do for you, Supergirl?'

'Not so loud!' Kara hissed, and glanced at the reporters further up the corridor.

They were still deep in conversation.

Maggie cleared her throat and said, 'Sorry.'

Alex frowned. 'Are you okay? You're acting a little… off.'

Maggie gave her another broad smile. 'I'm fine, I'm fine… just trying to stay positive. Anyway, I'm going to have another chat with Alvarez. Is that okay?'

She looked at Kara as she posed the question.

'Why are you asking me? You and your team are the ones keeping him detained.'

Alex and Kara glanced at one and other, and Alex placed a hand on Maggie's forehead.

'Woah, babe, you're burning up! We need to—'

Maggie batted her hand away and laughed.

'The engine room was hot, that's all. I'm fine!'

Alex didn't look convinced, and Kara wasn't either. She moved in front of the doorway.

'I think you should go to the med bay,' she murmured, 'you don't seem well.'

Maggie rolled her eyes. When they rested on Kara again, there was no hint of a smile on her face anymore.

'I'm fine, and you're getting in the way of me doing my job. Let me pass.'

Kara glanced at Alex, who nodded, and then she stepped away.

'My apologies,' she said.

Maggie nodded and sidled past her into the room, before shutting the door. Kara and Alex's expressions mirrored each other.

'Keep an eye on her,' Kara said.

'Agreed,' Alex said. 'Would you mind waiting out here for a few minutes? I'm going to go borrow some equipment from the med bay. Like a thermometer.'

'No problem.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

There was no point standing around in the control room and making a nuisance of herself, Lena reasoned as she stepped into the elevator.

It was a little ways past 2 p.m. on earth, so lunch should have just ended. Lena realised she would not have been seen for hours by other guests and thought it hide time she put in appearance.

Maggie had informed her the mechanic was hard at work in the engine room and did not want to be disturbed. She said he had found some sort of fault—she didn't understand the details of it—and said he will have fixed it soon. Ryans told her that mechanic had always been particular about his working environment and preferred space, so Lena endeavoured to give it to him despite her burning desire to stand over his shoulder and watch every move he made.

When she stepped out, she was immediately accosted by a gaggle of men and women.

'What's going on with that reporter?'

'Why is there so much screaming?'

'They said it's not the radiation, but how can they be sure? Is that going to happen to us?'

Lena raised a hand for silence.

'On board medical staff believe Mr Alvarez is facing some health issues at the moment. Our team are dealing with the situation as best they can. That is all I can say.'

Lena made to walk through the crowd, but none of them would let her pass. She pushed her way through with a sigh of frustration and headed into the canteen.

She wasn't hungry. Her stomach felt like a mass of writhing knots, and had done since the crisis had begun. Her thoughts kept on shooting between what was happening on the craft at that moment and what will happen when they finally landed. In amongst those worries, a snide, cruel voice reminded her that this fear may all be for nothing if she and her team didn't find and fix the issues they faced in getting back to earth.

She sat down at an empty able and rested her head on the desk for a minute. She knew it would make the guests around her mutter and stare, but the weeks of missed sleep and stress seemed to be catching up with her at last and she no longer cared. She closed her eyes.

'Miss Luthor? Miss Luthor!'

Lena sat bolt upright. A waiter stepped backwards a little.

'Sorry,' he said, 'but several people were beginning to wonder if you were alright.'

Lena blinked a couple of times to clear the sleepiness from her eyes and looked around. The canteen was far less populated than when she entered. Other than the waiter, there were a couple of reporters with their cameras out in the far corner. They were making a show of snapping photos of the canteen, but Lena knew to look forwards to photos of her asleep on a dining table on the front page of every newspaper when she got back home.

'What time is it?'

'A little after four.'

Lena jumped from her seat. A moment to rest her eyes, that's all she had wanted. Two hours had gone by, and heaven knows what kind of catastrophe awaited her now.

She ran out of the canteen and headed straight for the elevator. Mashing the button did not make it arrive faster any more than it made her feel better. When the doors opened, Supergirl stepped out.

'Miss Luthor,' she said, 'I was just coming to find you.'

'What's wrong now?' Lena asked.

'You better follow me.'

She stepped back into the elevator and hit the button to the floor the med bay was located on.

Lena glanced at Supergirl. She stood much like a soldier and kept her gaze planted firmly on the doors of the elevator.

'How bad?' Lena asked.

Supergirl looked at her. Lena swallowed, hard.

As she stepped off of the elevator, she had expected to hear the screams and cries she had been informed Alvarez had been making for the last half an hour, but these sounded distinctly female and Supergirl tensed with every step.

They rounded the corner.

'She's here, she's not going to stop until we're all dead!'

'Maggie, you have to calm down. Who is here?' Alex yelled.

Lena's stomach lurched. Maggie was on a gurney, her wrists and ankles bound by restraints. Burns on her fingers. She struggled and kicked out as Alex took a hold of her face and held her steady.

'No, Alex, please! Let me go, let me go—she's going to kill us all! But I know where she is! She's in him—she used me to get what she wanted!'

Lena turned to Supergirl.

'Detective Sawyer entered Mr Alvarez's room a little under two hours ago. She locked herself in there and began screaming like this. I opened the door, Alvarez ran out and away, and Maggie, she…'

Supergirl blinked hard and looked back over at Alex's futile attempts to calm her fiancée. She tried talking to her, shushing her, but Maggie didn't appear to pick up on a word Alex said.

Lena closed her eyes for a moment. She had to be pragmatic. She needed to think.

'I'm assuming this was witnessed by the guests?'

'Maggie's screams attracted most of them, yes.'

'And where are they now?'

'Her team ferried them into the room you watched the take-off in.'

Maggie seemed to notice there were others in the room.

'Miss Luthor!' she yelled, 'Miss Luthor, she's going to kill you. And you, too, Supergirl. You have to get out, you have to use the escape pods and run.'

'Shh, baby, it's okay, you're going to be okay,' Alex dashed over to a tray of supplies and picked up a syringe filled with a milky liquid.

'No, Alex—you need to let me go—she's going to k-kill…all…'

The moment the syringe pierced her skin, Maggie's features seemed to relax. She flopped backwards onto the pillow and laid there, her eyes wide until Alex closed them.

'Anaesthetic,' she mumbled through tears, 'I didn't know what else to… Maggie…'

Fresh tears fell down her face, and Supergirl walked over and put an arm around her shoulder.

'I hate to be the one to ask this—especially now,' Lena murmured, 'but Alvarez. Does anyone know where he is?'

Alex let go of Supergirl and wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve.

'No,' she said, 'Maggie's and your staff are out looking for him.'

'I can head out there, too.' Supergirl offered.

'And I can—'

'No. Thank you for the offer, but Alex, you should stay with Maggie. And Supergirl,' Lena tapped her watch, 'I'll call you if I need you.'

Supergirl bowed her head.

'Thank you, Miss Luthor. I'll be here.'

Lena nodded, and after a final look at Maggie, left the room.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Alex set about hooking Maggie up to various monitors. The heart rate monitor beeped steadily, and Kara opened her mouth several times as she struggled to find the words.

Alex wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve and turned to her.

'Kara, I need you to hear me on this: don't tell me how sorry you are or how scary this is. If you do, I am going to fall apart. A-and I can't do that right now.'

Kara closed her mouth and nodded.

'Facts,' Alex said, 'what do we know?'

Kara flickered her gaze around the room as she forced her thoughts into some semblance of order. Alex looked as lost as she felt.

'Damn it,' she hissed.

Alex undid the restrains holding her wrists and plucked Maggie's hand gently from her lap. She examined the burns.

'She has a fever, and these need dressings…'

Kara stared at her pointer finger. 'Wait. Look at that.'

She pointed at the burn in the shape of a line that ran around the base her finger. Alex turned her hand as she assessed it.

'Looks like… a ring mark?'

'Yeah, I thought so too.'

Kara thought back to the ring box she found in Alvarez's room, and she could tell Alex was doing the same.

'This can't be some ordinary ring—Alvarez's efforts to hide it from you, the scorch marks…' Alex trailed off.

She let go of Maggie's hand and reached into a cupboard for a tube of cream.

'I've already cleaned them,' she said, 'this should help with the soreness.'

'Is that was you did with Alvarez?'

'No. He wouldn't let me do anything other than dress them, and no, before you ask: there wasn't a mark like this on any of his fingers.'

'But the burns were on the tips of his fingers too?'

'Yes.'

Kara watched for a moment as she wrapped some gauze and then a bandage around Maggie's hand. For a split second, her imagination took hold, and it was Lena on the gurney, Kara wrapping her hands. The thought made her nauseous.

There was a knock at the door, and a woman with long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail walked in.

'I'm Dr Carter,' she said, 'you must be Agent Danvers.'

Alex nodded, and Dr Carter moved past her and Supergirl to examine Maggie.

'Sedated?'

Alex confirmed this, and went on to explain the dressings and cream. The doctor nodded.

'You should know her symptoms are presenting in a similar way to Alvarez's. She was… volatile while conscious. It-it took several people to restrain her.'

Dr Carter nodded again and turned to Supergirl.

'Is there anything to add? Do you know anything about how she came to be in this state?'

Kara shook her head. 'We're still investigating.'

'Well, I suggest you get back to it.'

Alex said, 'I'm not leaving Maggie.'

Carter turned to her and put a hand on her shoulders. 'Dr Danvers—if I may call you that—you are an exemplary physician. And I've heard good things about you as an agent, as well. You know as well as I do that so long as Detective Sawyer is unconscious and stable, there is little more you or I can do until we're back on earth.'

'I know, but,' a single tear rolled down Alex's cheek, 'what if she wakes up and I'm not here?'

'I will send someone the moment she wakes. But I think the best thing for the both of you would be to head out there and find out how she came to be in this state in the first place. I'd rather not have an entire ship full of patients by close of play.'

Kara turned to Alex. 'She's right. We can help Maggie by stopping this. She's a police officer. She'd want us to catch whoever did this to her.'

Alex touched Maggie's wrist. 'When she's in her right mind she would, yeah.'

'Alvarez is our best lead,' Kara said, 'and there are only so many places he can hide, even on a ship this big. If we find him, catch him, he'll tell us what's going on, whether he likes it or not.'

Alex snapped back into focus and nodded. Kara knew her sister inside out, and the best way to get her through this was to get her thinking like a soldier again. She needed to be Agent Danvers for a while, not the fiancée by the bedside of her slumbering lover.

'You send someone to me the second she wakes,' Alex said, 'you hear me? The second.'

'I will,' the doctor replied, 'count on it.'

She kissed Maggie's forehead and, with a nod at Kara, Alex headed for the door.

'Let's find this bastard,' she said.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lena and had a strong case of deja-vu. The guests were all seated, murmuring amongst themselves, and she stood in the same spot she'd given her initial presentation not hours before. Except this time the crowd did not look half as friendly.

She'd searched the crowd for Kara's face when she first come in, but again, her friend was absent. A couple of security team members were out looking for her.

'What the hell is going on?'

Several more people yelled variations of the same. This time, there were no cameras out. The guests seemed too afraid to record anything.

Lena cleared her throat.

'Earlier on today, Marco Alvarez was discovered in a restricted area of the ship. We have not yet been able to ascertain why he went down there, and, as you all now know, Mr Alvarez had appeared to be suffering from a mental breakdown.'

No one hollered a single question. Lena thought it was as if they knew the worst was still to come.

'We kept Alvarez contained to his bedroom, intending to turn the ship around and head back to earth where a medical team could help him, but the ship is refusing to change trajectory.'

'What does that mean?'

'We are still heading further out into space when we should be going the opposite way.'

Lena decided to leave off the fact they had not been able to communicate with earth since they left, for the guests seemed agitated enough.

'What about that woman?' One of them yelled, 'I definitely heard a woman screaming—that cop.'

'Detective Sawyer entered Mr Alvarez's bedroom with the intention of speaking to him. At some point, the detective was rendered… ill, in the same manner as Mr Alvarez. She a currently being looked after by our on board medical team.'

Lena's breath caught in her throat as she wrestled to say the next thing.

'Mr Alvarez escaped his room, and my staff are working hard to—'

Those words were the spark in a room full of gas. An explosion of words, screams, people leaping off of their seats and making for the door.

Security held them back as best they could, and Lena kept yelling for order. That was until a man at the front of the room stood up, marched over to Lena and punched her in the jaw.

She hit the ground, hard, and wasn't sure if the reason the room had gone quiet was because the crowd had stopped or she was deaf.

Two members of her security team wrestled the reporter to the ground and held him on his front with his hands behind his back. Another two helped Lena to her feet as her head and jaw throbbed to the beat of her heart.

'This is all your fault,' the man on the floor yelled as he struggled, 'never _ever_ trust a Luthor! Unless you fancy having your funeral held in space!'

Lena felt along her jaw. She winced at the tenderness, but couldn't find a break, and her head was calming down, too.

'Miss Luthor, you should had to the medical bay.'

Lena shook her head. 'No. I'm fine.'

She stood in front of her guests once more, and each one of them slowly returned to their seats. The mixture of angry and stricken expressions remained, but not a single one spoke.

'I know you're scared,' Lena shouted as her assailant was dragged out of the room, kicking and yelling. 'But are you forgetting who is on this ship? Yeah, Supergirl. You know what she is capable of. If anyone can track down Alvarez and get us back to earth, it'll be her.'

Lena paused to survey the room. No one's face seemed relaxed, but they didn't seem anymore afraid, either.

'But for now, I need myself and my team focused on getting us home. Which isn't possible when my guests are screaming bloody murder and assaulting me. For the moment, I ask that you remain in here. Food and drink will be provided as needed, and later on sleeping bags will be brought in.'

'Why can't we go back to our rooms?' Someone asked.

'They have not yet been searched, and keeping track of everyone will be more difficult the more spread out you are. It's safer you remain here. Thank you.'

Lena answered a couple of questions about sleeping arrangements and toilet breaks, and then made out of the room. This time, no one yelled or insulted her, but she did get a few dirty looks.

She managed to resist holding her jaw or gasping in pain while in the room, but while out of it, she felt no need to hold back.

'Miss Luthor—'

She hasn't realised members of her security team had followed her out.

'No medical bay. I have work to do, and you should remain here. Make sure the guests stay in that room and under control.'

She straightened her back and marched down the corridor. Her intention: find Kara. The idea she could be injured and alone, or screaming tales of unseen foes likes Maggie haunted her every thought.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Barely five minutes after they left Maggie, Kara and Alex ran into their first casualty. A staff member, unconscious in the staff elevator at the far end of the ship. She had a red mark around her neck.

Alex made to kneel down and check her pulse, but Kara used her x-ray vision.

'Heart rate strong, no internal injuries. Just that mark around her neck.'

'That's not a mark. It's a burn.'

Alex gave the girl's shoulder a gentle shake, and she awoke, limbs flailing.

'Where—what—?'

'Easy,' Alex said, 'you're safe. Can you tell me what happened?'

She looked from Alex to Kara, and only when her gaze settled on the symbol on Kara's chest did she allow her limbs to relax.

'That man, reporter, he—he—what if he comes back?!'

'No one is going to hurt you,' Kara gave her a gentle smile.

'We'll get you to the medical bay in a moment,' Alex said, 'but it may help us to know what happened. Can you-?'

'U-Um,' the girl blinked a few times and swallowed. 'I wanted to head down to the staff quarters for a rest, so I got in here, a-and…'

The girl touched her neck.

'He was here. That man who was yelling in his quarters. He mumbled something about the code being different—called me, well, 'humans' stupid and then put his hand around my neck. His hands—they were like fire. I tried to scream, but I couldn't even breathe, and he made me choke out the new code to the elevator… and that was it. I must have passed out.'

'Okay, it's a little past four in the afternoon. How long ago did this happen?'

'I'm not sure—maybe an hour?'

Kara knelt down beside the girl and gave her a smile. 'You've been very helpful—what was your name?'

'Ashley.'

'Okay, Ashley, Agent Danvers here is going to take you to the medical bay.'

'I don't think us splitting up is a good—'

'I agree, but right now we don't have a choice. You need to get Ashley to safety. I'll keep going.'

'Alright. I'll go. Stay safe, Supergirl.'

As Alex helped Ashley out of the elevator, she shot Kara a look that betrayed her misgivings as Ashely gave her the elebator code. Kara gave her the most confident smile she could muster in response, and punched in the code.

As soon as the doors opened, Kara took a step back. This was not a part of the ship Lena had never showed her, and if she had Kara was unsure if she would have agreed to come at all.

The daxamite design made her cringe. Kara could almost smell them.

She took a couple of cautious steps out of the elevator and looked left then right. No one around.

Aside from a gentle whirring sound, there was nothing to hear, even with her super hearing.

Kara turned left and bunched her fists as she walked. In the back of her mind was Maggie's words, and Alvarez's manic yells when she first met in him his room.

Footsteps. Up ahead. Kara strained to hear more and caught laboured breathing. She quickened her pace.

She didn't want to call out in case it was Alvarez, but the urge was still there nonetheless. Just to break the quiet. Most of the rooms were empty, their doors closed, but as she travelled further the breathing grew louder.

She turned a corner, and at the end found a room with no door. A woman was standing in the doorway.

'Hello?' Kara said.

She turned. Lena whipped around with a gun in her hand, but holstered it with a sigh of relief when she recognised her.

Kara stepped forwards.

'Miss Luthor, you should get back upstairs. Alvarez is down here somewhere.'

'I know,' Lena said, 'but first—come here.'

Kara followed her.

'What happened to your face?'

'Angry guest. It's not important right now.'

Before Kara could question her further, Lena walked through a doorway. In the centre of the engine room floor was a man, dead. His face appeared to have been burned off.

'This wasn't Alvarez,' Lena said, 'this was Maggie Sawyer.'

Kara stared at her. 'How can you be sure?'

'Because she told me he was working on the engine and didn't want to be disturbed,' Lena said, 'she must have killed him before heading to Alvarez's room.'

Kara closed her eyes. 'She told Alex Danvers the mechanic could not find a fault in here.'

Lena sighed. 'I hoped I was wrong, but…look.'

She knelt down beside the body and pointed at his neck. Kara stooped for a closer look and found the same red gash on his neck that Ashley had on hers, but this burn was a lot more savage.

'The skin looks almost entirely burnt off,' Kara said. 'Alvarez did something similar to a girl in the elevator, but he only knocked her out.'

'Guest or staff member?'

'Staff. Her name is Ashley.'

Lena stood. She took her gun out again and gripped it so hard her knuckles turned white. Kara placed a hand on her shoulder.

'Easy,' she said, 'let me handle this.'

'No,' Lena snapped, 'this is my ship. This was my plan. And it's my screw up. I should be the one to—'

'You have nothing to prove, Lena. You couldn't have predicted this, and you didn't cause it.'

Kara was relieved to see her grip on the weapon loosen slightly.

'Where did you get that, anyway? I thought there were no weapons on board.'

'None were allowed to be brought through the airport,' Lena said, 'but we had some placed in storage before the ship was brought there, just in case.'

'Good move. But you don't have to use that.'

Kara placed her hand over the gun and took it from Lena's hands. She didn't resist, but she did snort.

'If only my critics could see me now,' she said, 'Lena Luthor: living up to the family name.'

'You're not a killer.'

'No, but I could be,' Lena met Kara's eyes.

The glare she gave Kara unsettled her, but Kara tried her best not to show it.

'It takes more than picking up a gun to end someone's life, Lena,' Kara murmured.

Kara took the gun apart, and Lena watched as she pieces fell to the floor and clanged against the metal.

'Why do you trust me?' She asked, meeting Kara's eyes again.

'Because you earned that.'

'How?'

'By…' Kara sighed. 'By being Lena Luthor. You've been wrongfully imprisoned, kidnapped by your mother, accused of the same wrongdoings as your family and yet you're not bitter. Or cynical. Or cruel. You care about people, about National City.'

Lena stared at the floor for a moment. She took a deep breath, and Kara used the moment of quiet to examine her jaw. The bruise looked painful.

'Thank you. I—I lost my head there for a moment, I guess.'

'Happens to all of us.'

'Even you?'

'Oh, all the time. That's why I work with a team—they help keep me sane.'

Lena smiled and looked at her feet for a moment. 'I have my friend—Kara. She's the one I usually go to when I feel like this. But she hasn't been see in hours. I thought Alvarez might have…'

'Kara's in her room,' replied, 'she's fine. Just—an upset stomach.'

Lena rolled her eyes, but she couldn't hide her relief. 'I told her to head to the med bay.'

'Will you go back up now?'

Lena looked at the body. 'As far as I know, Maggie Sawyer is not an alien. How did she do this?'

'I don't think she did, not exactly,' Supergirl replied, 'after you left the room we found a ring mark burnt onto her finger.'

Lena stared at her. 'The lead-lined ring box in Alvarez's room. So the ring did this?'

'Or made Maggie do it.'

They both looked at the body.

'I can't leave my team down here,' Lena said, 'they're all locked into the control room, but…'

'I understand,' Kara said, 'but I can't focus with you in harm's way.'

'Then take me to the control room. I'll lock myself in there as well.'

Kara didn't like it, but she also realised her lie about Kara Danvers' location didn't give her a lot of choice. If Lena went back upstairs and went to Kara's room, she'd know something was wrong.

'Alright,' Kara replied, 'lead the way.'

The control room was a mercifully short walk from the engine room. Kara kept all of her senses on high alert as they made their way through the corridors and heard nothing that concerned her.

When they reached the room, Lena tapped on the door three times in quick succession, waited two seconds, and then did it again. The door was opened.

'Miss Luthor,' a bald-headed man greeted her.

'Captain Ryans. Supergirl feels I'll be safest in with you.'

Ryans gave Kara a stiff nod. She returned it as he stood aside and allowed Lena to pass.

'Good luck out there,' Ryans replied.

'Keep her safe,' Kara said back as the door shut.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Status update?' Ryans asked.

'The mechanic is dead, and another staff member has been attacked,' Lena said.

Ryans didn't show any outward signs of surprise, but his silence was enough.

'Any changes here?' Lena asked.

Ryans looked towards the staff member in front of the largest console. The flighty man who'd been sitting there before was no longer around, and his replacement seemed a lot less scared of the world.

'We have changed course,' the man replied, 'but only slightly, and we're still not heading to earth.'

Lena walked over to him and stood behind his chair. He was right. By her estimation, they'd be a couple of thousand miles away from their original destination. 2000 more miles between themselves as earth.

Ryans cleared his throat.

'We need a team out on the ship,' he said, 'we can track down this reporter, find out what he knows—'

'He's too dangerous,' Lena replied.

She thought of Detective Sawyer. Was she still dangerous? After all, Alvarez had not yet killed, at least as far as they knew. And if she was, her medical team were in a room with someone who could end their lives.

'Do we have any means of communicating within the ship?' Lena asked, 'I know the comms sytem hasn't been working since we boarded, but…'

'Negative. All we're getting over that is a rush of static.'

Lena pinched the bridge of her nose.

'All our hopes are riding on Supergirl,' she murmured.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Enjoy the view,' she said, 'it'll be the last beautiful thing you ever see.'

Alvarez did enjoy it. He stared through the window at the expanse of space like it was the greatest thing he had ever witnessed. Because it was. Even with her whispering in his ears.

She laughed, again. That laugh was beginning to grate on him. When he'd lost the ring, he heard it over and over again, growing louder with every breath. It seemed to take up the all the space in his mind for thinking.

Then that detective had come in. She had grabbed his wrist and shoved the ring back onto his pointer finger. It burned and burned, and she wouldn't let him take it off, but now his thoughts, and purpose, were clear once again. Now it was the detective's turn to hear the screams.

'You could have killed that girl,' she hissed, 'she works for Lena Luthor. She is nothing. You are even less.'

'If I am so weak,' Alvarez said, 'why did you make the woman give the ring to me?'

'Maggie Sawyer was strong. Her mind, her body. I channelled my power through her hand and made her kill, but a part of her mind snapped back during the act and battled me for control. I need a mind I can dominate, not one I have to lash into submission over and over again.'

Alvarez bristled. He had explored most of the lower floors of the ship now, and the storage lockers were by far the coolest part. She provided him with some heat when he first entered, but now she seemed happy to let him freeze.

'You do not control me.'

Without warning, his hand shot up and wrapped around his own throat. He choked and tried to wrench it away, all the while she laughed. '

'No? I beg to differ.'

She released him, and he sank to his knees, spluttering. Her power seemed stronger now. He could feel his own will, his own sense of self, ebbing away.

'What did you do to the engine?'

'I purged it of human filth—restored its true intentions, and I restored my power reserves so that I throw myself into the fray once more.'

'The fray?' Alvarez scoffed as he rose, unsteadily, to his feet.

'You laugh at me? Hmm. Perhaps you are braver than I first thought.'

'There is no battle to get back into. Daxam lost. Supergirl won.'

'Kara Zor-El has not won anything,' she snapped, 'she is running around this ship as lost as the little girl who left Krypton.'

'But she has all the power.'

'She does not.'

Alvarez looked at the ring. 'You've been reduced from a queen to a ring. How can you say that?'

The ring laughed once again. 'So short sighted.'

'Care to enlighten me?'

She laughed, that same manic burst of energy Alvarez's mind was taunted with when she left him. He clenched his fists. When she stopped, there was no trace of humour in her tones.

'You will be enlightened, little one. When you suffocate while gulping down air, when your lungs burn and your vision goes dark, you will be enlightened.'


End file.
